Send Bad 'Pack' Voting Packing

December 14, 2001

For decades, Lauderdale Lakes has refused to modernize its awkward, unfair and outmoded "pack" voting system of selecting city commissioners. But now, most commissioners support a sensible, if long overdue, election reform plan

Their proposed reform will put the city on a par with many others in Broward County, Florida and America that require each incumbent and each outside candidate to run for a specific City Commission seat.

At present, under the "pack" voting system, up to three incumbent commissioners facing re-election must all run in a group against each other and against all candidates, with voters asked to cast ballots for "no more than three" candidates.

That pack voting system has several flaws:

It hinders voters' ability to hold a single commissioner accountable for performance in office or target that person for defeat at the polls.

It amounts to an incumbent's protection act. Facing a welter of names, many of them unfamiliar, voters often turn to those of better-known incumbents, regardless of performance. That makes it even harder for a worthy challenger to win election.

It inhibits challengers from running for office, knowing that they not only must oppose one incumbent, but all three, as well as all other challengers.

It increases the risk of accidental overvoting, casting ballots for more than three candidates, which invalidates the entire ballot.

It increases the risk of "bullet" voting, which distorts election results when voters cast a ballot for only one candidate to give that person an extra edge.

Other cities with similar pack voting systems include Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Lighthouse Point and Margate.

Commissioners voted Tuesday to place a reform city charter amendment on the March 12 ballot. If it passes, candidates in the March 2004 city election and afterwards will run for specific seats, labeled Seats A, B, C, D, E and F. Terms of Commissioners Levoyd Williams, John Billingsley Jr. and Samuel Goldstein will end in 2004.